I have had my 2 mollies for just over 3 weeks, the female is defiantly pregnant (”obviously pregnant” for about 2 weeks).

My question is, how long do they stay pregnant for? I have read they breed about once a month (so I’m guessing they are pregnant for 3-4 weeks). I want to know when to move her into the breeding trap, don’t really want her to have them in the main tank.




Thanks.

hi loz. found out that mollies give birth once a month and the temperature needs to be between 72 -80 f. they need a good diet when carrying young which should include live/freeze dried.

hope this helped.

cheers sandy, they do get freeze dried blood worm etc.

When would you reccomend i move her in to trap??

28 days

ithink

cheers, another question:

Do they tremble before they give birth???

i was watching Grace this evening, and every now and then she would tremble (like shivering when your in the snow in your pyjamas! )

<_< sorry loz that ones got me baffled. is she staying in one spot and sort of shimmying? its like a shaking. have you got her in the trap now?

yeah that sounds like what she was doing, was gonna put her tonight, then she started doing that.... thouht i'd as...

tis only now and they in between she swimming round normally??? hummm

<_< normally loz shimmying isnt a good sign, but, and its a big but, she may well be getting ready to give birth. keep a close eye on her though.

what sign could shimmying indicate ... shes not been doing it recently (IE the last hour or so..) ?!?!?

(This doesn't answer your question but if well feed ect ect you could get up to 50 + fry)

I can't wait to be a gran!!

no babies as yet - not noiced anymore shaking either...

it my be me geting used to seeing her pregnant - but she dosent look as big as she was - could be my eyes though!?!?

Well.... still no babies!! What is going on???

The male has begun "courting" again, is this a bad sign.. could she have lost the fry some how?

Overnight & when im out she goes in the breeding trap... so she can't of had them & they all got eaten before I came home. Is it possible for fish to miscarry (or similar)?

worried...

Are the two mollies the only fish in the tank? If not the fry could very well have been eaten. My mollie had fry in a tank with her and 2 other mollies. By the time I saw them all except 3 fry were dead and laying on the bottom of the tank. About 20 in all. Not sure if they were born that way or died after being born. Don't know how many actually got eaten. They were going crazy after any that were still alive and moving though. I actually rescued one of the fry from an adults mouth when she spit it out. He lived for about another week, but eventually passed.

Sorry, just sharing my experience. Not sure how to tell when to put in the breeding net. Wish I would have though...might have been able to save all my little fry

Maybe the molly already gave birth and the fry got eaten if you notice that the molly is smaller. My platies (also a livebearer) are pregnant a lot, but I only witnessed them giving birth once. I keep missing them giving birth except that one time. They do sorta shimmy or shake their tails left and right trying to get the fry out.

dont think there is anyway she could have given birth yet - whenever im not home she goes into the breeding trap. The mollys are in the tank with the tropical fih listed in my sig.
she looked fat again today!?! Cant fathom her

cheers guys..

maybe try pacing up and down corridors, cigar in hand (don't actually smoke it, obviously)?
cupoftea

that a good idea! I keep telling her off cause, i have all these hot towles on stand-by!!!!

She will - eventually, and only when she's ready - give birth. I have a Silver molly who is now on her 4th batch of babies. She give birth to about 50 every 6 weeks (quite regular!)... So they have to be given away to good homes as soon as they are large enough!

So don't worry - keep an eye on her, but I would say don't leave her in the breeding trap for too long at a time, as she will get stressed about not having much room to move. Also, you say the male has begun courting again? This is not a problem, he will keep doing that - more or less all the time <_<

Best of luck (gran)

thanks Incandisco, she is in the trap over night (ususally 10pm to 8am) trouble is not always someone at home and im terrified they'll be eaten

may just have to hope for best....

Ta.v.much

My "mummy molly" is really huge again, and it's just over 5 weeks since she last popped - so what I normally do, is a 20% water change for 2 consecutive days (as the clean water seems to trigger the event) and feed them bloodworm as a treat over the 2 days as well.

I don't know if it's right, but I think in the wild, they find the cleanest place they can to give birth and so give their fry the best possible chance of survival.

Keep us informed.

cheers, she has been getting freeze dried bloodworm as treat, will be doing water change this weekend.